Hazardous materials are used in various manufacturing processes and/or are the by-products of such processes. The hazards associated with such materials can vary greatly, and in many instances, the hazards are not fully known. Some such materials are capable of causing direct and immediate physical harm if consumed or brought into contact with skin surfaces. Other hazardous materials emit noxious vapors which can cause immediate and serious harm if inhaled. Many other materials interact with the body more slowly and cause health problems years after the initial exposure. Still other hazardous materials present a smaller risk to humans, but a significant risk to other parts of the environment, such as plants and wildlife. In still other instances, the materials are highly volatile and may explode or ignite when subjected to air, heat, physical impact or electric spark.
Increased awareness of the health and environmental risks associated with hazardous materials has led to increased government regulations relating to the processing and disposal of such materials. The greater care that is necessarily imposed by government regulation has significantly increased the cost of handling and disposing of hazardous materials. The direct costs associated with the disposal of hazardous materials often are avoided by merely abandoning the materials at an inconspicuous dump site. For example, unlabelled drums of a hazardous material having a high disposal cost may merely be left at an abandoned lot or warehouse. In most instances the materials are stored in large cylindrical metallic drums with a threadedly removable plug in the top end for accessing the materials stored therein. The drums come in many different sizes and configurations. Common sizes for drums are 30 gallons and 55 gallons, but other sizes are available. Most drums include a rim at the interface of the cylindrical side wall and the circular top. In some instances the rim is tapered outwardly while in other instances the rim is of generally rectangular cross-section.
An unlabelled abandoned drum of material must be treated with utmost care and with the assumption that the material stored therein is extremely hazardous and highly volatile. The method of disposing of a hazardous material varies in accordance with the type of material. Thus, the specific handling of material in an abandoned drum cannot be finally determined until the identity of the material is positively determined. However, the drum generally cannot be moved to a location where such analysis can be carried out safely because the unknown material in the drum may be sufficiently volatile to explode in response to any aggressive movement. Furthermore, rust caused by environmental moisture and corrosion caused by the material in the drum could cause the drum to rupture or otherwise fail in response to such movement.
Chemical "sniffers", such as "spectrometers" are available to perform some on-site analysis of chemicals stored in abandoned drums. An appropriate means for disposing of the chemicals can be employed once the materials have been positively identified by the "sniffer". However, the chemical "sniffers" must have access to the materials in the drum. In some instances access is achieved by removing the threaded plug from the top of the drum. However, the manual removal of the threaded plug can expose the technician to undetermined health risks. In other instances the plug may be rusted or corroded into place or may be inaccessible, such as when the drum is stored in an inverted condition. In these situations it may be necessary to drill directly through an uppermost portion of the drum to access the materials stored therein. Such drilling may exacerbate the substantial environmental and health risks, particularly the risks to the technician performing the drilling or cutting operation.
Even properly handled chemicals often must be transported, and periodic accidents in such transportation are unavoidable. For example, tank trucks may overturn in highway accidents or railway tank cars may overturn during derailments. The tank carried by the truck or railway car may be very large and may be of any shape. Furthermore, most tanks are not constructed to withstand the forces that would be necessary to right the capsized vehicle with the material stored in the tank. Any attempt to place the full tank back in an upright position may rupture the tank. The probability for rupture is rendered even greater by the likelihood of damage to the tank as a result of the accident Consequently, the typical method for addressing such accidents is to initially transfer the hazardous material from the vehicle involved in the accident to a nearby vehicle for subsequent transportation. This often will require drilling, cutting, or otherwise placing a hole through the highest point on the overturned vehicle. Most of the problems associated with accessing materials stored in an abandoned drum will exist in attempting to access materials in an overturned tank truck or railroad car. In particular, the technician performing manual cutting is subjected to very substantial personal health risk. Furthermore, the highest point on the tank at which the access must be made often is curved and provides very poor support for the worker and/or the equipment being employed to cut or drill through the tank.
In view of the above, it is an object of the subject invention to provide an apparatus for safely accessing materials stored in a container.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide an apparatus for remotely accessing materials stored in a container.
An additional object of the subject invention is to provide an apparatus that is securely mountable to containers having any of several different sizes and shapes.
Still a further object of the subject invention is to provide an apparatus selectively employable to either remove a threaded plug from a container or to form a hole through a wall of a container.
Yet another object of the subject invention is to provide an apparatus that is securely mountable to a container having any of several different curvatures.